Western Walkabout: Who Do You Think You Are?
...He has a lot of color in his face, and a strong nose – good for warming cold air in northern lands, or poking into other people’s business to find stories, or for sniffing the wonderful wildflower scents in the great southland....
Columnist Richard Harris looks in the mirror in search of himself.
To read more of Richard's entertaining words please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/western_walkabout/
I look in the mirror and this old guy looks back at me. He needs a haircut but is practically bald on top. I keep him in three-quarter profile, which hides that he is missing most of his right ear.
On the wall behind is a picture of me running track, with M70 identification. Guess who won the gold medal that day. A rack of medals hangs alongside, track and cross country, the Perth Marathon, the Rottnest Marathon, Darlington half marathon, City to Surf finisher’s medal.
Further to the right is a certificate of achievement for an Outback Survival Course, alongside an Arts Degree from the University of Western Australia.
Below in the book rack are tracts on healing foods, how to play better bridge, Bernard Cornwell’s Lords of the North, the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, and various pieces of science fiction, including a riveting piece called Orcs about a war-band led by an orc called Stryke, whose offsider, an orc female, is an expert with edged weapons. There’s also a well-thumbed copy of The Bone Doll’s Twin.
Does this say anything about the grizzled veteran looking back at me from the mirror?
He has a lot of color in his face, and a strong nose – good for warming cold air in northern lands, or poking into other people’s business to find stories, or for sniffing the wonderful wildflower scents in the great southland.
He has clear, hazel eyes, which can spot whether it’s snow melt, time to put the ram with the ewes on the north fell, or whether the hazel nuts are ready at the edge of the wood.
They can also spot the protruding barbells on a catfish lurking under a stone, the swift movement of fish in the burn, or the tiny burrow made by the moaning frog, where the tadpoles lie waiting for the water to rise and introduce them to their new world.
So who is this man? He’s a link in a long line of successful animals, which is why he’s here. He’s an omnibus, with all his ancestors aboard.
Don’t take too much notice of what he looks like – that’s just his earth suit, showing a bit of wear and tear.
Everything isn’t what it seems. He hasn’t really had a facelift – that’s just the result of surgery for the removal of various basal cell carcinomas.
I was a young man once. Sometimes, it seems like it was just the other day. Now that I’m legally old – 73 this year – I still feel young some days, and am looking round right now for the first signs of spring – the early mulberries, the plum blossom, and the end of the mandarins.
Roll on 80 – I hope I’ll still be around. Do you think I should get married again?
